RPG Maker MV promises cross-platform play—to a certain extent

RPG Maker MV is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch next year, and games on Xbox One and Switch can be played across platforms.

Earlier this month, NIS America revealed RPG Maker MV would reach the U.S. in 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. But that’s not all. Apparently, RPG Maker MV will also support cross-play, meaning RPGs created on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch can be shared between platforms.

The news comes from a translation of Kadokawa Corporation’s official RPG Maker MV Japanese website provided by Gematsu. Called RPG Maker MV Trinity in Japan, the press release reveals that users with an internet connection can upload their RPG Maker MV creations to the online “Maker Plaza,” letting these games “be played by friends around the world.”

There’s no need to own RPG Maker MV to play RPG Maker games, either. Just download the RPG Maker MV Player (which is also called the RPG Maker MV Trinity Free Trial version on Xbox One). That piece of software is available “via each platform’s online store,” and there’s no purchase necessary to do so.

“Additionally, the games created in the Switch and Xbox One versions of RPG Maker MV Trinity are cross-compatible and can be shared between platforms,” Kadokawa Corporation writes. “Finally, games created and distributed in RPG Maker MV Trinity are shared across the world, meaning you can play games created by users from Japan as well as from other countries.”

However, cross-play remains limited for RPG Maker MV. For one, RPG Maker MV’s Japanese website does not say RPG Maker MV games created on the PlayStation 4 are cross-compatible. Sony may want to keep its console’s iteration a closed garden, similar to how Fortnite: Battle Royale users on PS4 cannot fight alongside Xbox and Switch players.

Users that don’t own RPG Maker MV cannot play games created in RPG Maker’s PC version, either, most likely in an attempt to limit access to some of the incredibly advanced games that RPG Maker MV users can create on PC. Still, crossplay among RPG Maker MV’s Japanese platforms is a promising start for the game’s future international releases. Expect the game to launch in the West in 2019.

H/T Gematsu